“I’ve grown up in a household where alcohol, my father, and other male figures were king. Alcohol trumps everything. The toxic fallout from alcohol on family and whānau and community was etched on the inside of my eyelids from an early age.” — Shelley Burns-Field.
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“We talk about the sorts of things brown women who work in mainly white professions and systems talk about. About how ignorant and racist some Pākehā managers are. About how ignorant and frustrating some Māori managers have become.” — Shelley Burne-Field.
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“Many of the ‘truant’ or simply AWOL students have been stood down, either legally or illegally, for not much more than ‘defiance’ or vaping, or some other teenage-y manifestation, and have decided not to go back.” — Shelley Burne-Field.
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“With the help of caring people, through a lens now tinted with aroha, I could embrace the experience of speaking re reo Māori and let it melt my heart.” — Shelley Burne-Field.
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“Stereotypes affect, and infect, all of us — including those of us who suffer because of them. They don’t just live in the heads of those who use them to hammer us, but in ours as well.” — Shelley Burne-Field.
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“We can be Māori and reo-less at the same time. It’s not ideal — especially in the hidden places we never talk about — but we can keep our heads held high. This doesn’t make us less.” — Shelley Burne-Field.
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“Racism is wearisome. Literally tiring. It does not create a pearl after years of grinding. It creates sickness, fear, anxiety, sadness, resentment, and worry.” — Shelley Burne-Field.
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